Monday, October 13, 2008

Apocalypse Now Redux

Unfortunately, the above title is not only a great DVD, but also the best way to describe the sad state of affairs known as Auburn football. It’s the same story in a different year- the offense is one of the worst in football and Tommy Tuberville is on the hot seat. While rationale people could reasonably disagree about what should be done with Tubs, I herby argue it’s too early to make a final determination at this point in the season and he should be given until the end of the season before any final decisions are made.

No matter how one feels about the current situation one thing is for sure, Auburn must show signs of improvements this season for Tuberville to keep his job. While I do not agree with that premise, it appears to be the reality of the situation. The Auburn offense has been in a steady state of decline for several years. The past five seasons the offense has had the following ranking nationally in total offense- 25th, 37th, 76th, 97th, and this year 104th.

Tuberville obviously realized the decline and that is why he chose to use the spread offense this season. However, no matter what type of offense a team runs, a coach should be willing to adjust to the players and talent he has. It is obvious this is not happening at Auburn. Otherwise, Auburn would be running the ball out of the I-formation and throwing the ball down the field using play action pass. Maybe some spread could be thrown in there, but the team strength is obviously not the passing game which the spread requires plenty of to be successful.

Tommy Tuberville has earned himself the right to coach his way out of the current mess he is in. I believe he must do the following things to be successful:

(1) Move the QB back under center and maximize the talent that is currently on the team. With Auburn entering a bye week, the team should have enough time to implement a new offense.

(2) Bench Chris Todd until he is healthy enough to play his best.

(3) Bring in several new offensive coaches for the 2009 season.

If he refuses to make any adjustments and the offense continues to falter then a change should be made. One way or the other, it’s much too early to make a final decision on the fate of Tubs at this point in the season. To further complicate matters, if Tubs were fired this season he would be owed a buyout of 6 million. So, not only would Auburn have to pay 6 million to Tuberville, they would also have to pay a new coach.

Any decent coach would run around at around 2 million. I'm not sure it's equitable to get rid of any coach when your program would have to come up with at least 8 million dollars in a matter of months. Let’s see what he does against the toughest and most important part of the schedule, "Amen Corner." I wouldn't count him out just yet.